The Victoria Conservatory of Music

Here's a building I've not featured before on this blog although it is one of the more interesting heritage buildings in downtown Victoria. It's on the corner of Pandora and Quadra Streets. When it was built in 1890 it was consecrated as the Metropolitan Methodist Church. Now it houses the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Because the original church members had a strong music program the building was designed by Thomas Hooper with particular attention to acoustics. The Alix Goolden Performance Hall is used by the conservatory but also hosts many community events. The Victoria Heritage Foundation website has a good description of this building you can read by clicking HERE.

Another Hooper

A week ago I published a photo of one of my favorite heritage houses on Robert Street in Victoria West, and lamented about its sorry looking condition. Just across the street from that house is another heritage home that is actually older by several years (built in 1900) but looks as though it could have been erected yesterday. It was designed by the same architect who designed the house across the street, Thomas Hooper. It is described in "This Old House" as a "finely detailed Queen Ann cottage."

$2,000

That's what it cost to build this house in 1903. It was designed by architects Thomas Hooper and C. Elwood Watkins. It's my favorite house of those I see on my morning walk and, despite its rather dilapidated appearance, it's a remarkable house in that it is one of the few privately owned houses in Canada to have been declared a National Historic Site. I think the main reason I always end up stopping to look at it is that I like to dream about fixing it up, though it did undergo an award-winning restoration in 1976. It also looks like a comfortable and interesting house to live in though it doesn't appear currently to be occupied. I hope it will soon be in the care of someone who can give it the attention it deserves.

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Historical information about this house was drawn from "This Old House," Volume 1, a publication of the Victoria Heritage Foundation.